Zimbabwe Imposes Curfew to Curb ‘Frightening’ Spread of Virus
Zimbabwe Imposes Curfew to Curb ‘Frightening’ Spread of Virus
Zimbabwe imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew and warned of stiff penalties for people who break quarantine rules as the number of Covid-19 cases surges.
The new restrictions are being introduced a week before opposition and civil society groups planned to stage nationwide demonstrations over state corruption and the government’s handling of a prolonged economic crisis.
The number of coronavirus infections in Zimbabwe almost doubled to 1,713 by Tuesday, from 985 a week earlier, as the number of deaths jumped by 40% to 26. The number of locally transmitted cases has also exceeded imported ones for the first time, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said in a televised address.
“We have a very serious situation at our doorstep,” Mnangagwa said late Tuesday, after earlier calling the surge in infections “frightening.”
The new restrictions, to remain in place indefinitely, include:
- A curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., to be enforced by the nation’s security forces
- Businesses will only be allowed to operate from 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
- All non-working citizens must remain at home
- Criminal charges will be laid against anyone found to have deserted places of quarantine
- “Severe punishment” for anyone who knowingly exposes others to the virus.
“These urgent and necessary measures will entail curtailing the freedoms we have always enjoyed, and had grown accustomed to,” Mnangagwa said. “From now on, these freedoms stand suspended and deferred, in the interest of all of us.”
The restrictions were announced a day after the authorities arrested an opposition party leader and an investigative journalist amid preparations for nationwide protests on July 31. The southern African nation is struggling with food and fuel shortages and a currency that has collapsed since being reintroduced last year after a decade-long hiatus.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.